Method of making surgical bandages.



0. G. SGHULZ.

METHOD OF MAKING SURGICAL BANDAGES.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 28, 1912.

Patented Sept. 1, 1914.

5 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO C. SGHULZ, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIO-NOR TO BAUER &; BLACK, OF CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

METHOD OF MAKING SURGICAL BANDAGES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 1, 1914.

Application filed September 28, 1912. Serial No. 722,797.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, O'r'ro C. SoHULz, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have-invented certain new and use-: ful Improvements in Methods of Making Surgical Bandages, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention pertains to bandages and has more particular reference to surgical bandages which are usually sold to the trade in the form of rolls each of which the Wound and retarding its healing. It has been customary, therefore, in the manufacture of surgical bandages to remove the longitudinal threads at the edges of the bandage leaving free ends of the transverse threads projecting from the edges of the bandage. This removal of the longitudinal threads has been accomplished by cutting them at intervals either before or after the bandage is wound into a roll and withdrawing the severed lengths by means of a stlff brush or other suitable implement. It is very difiicult, however, to remove all of the thread lengths by this method and in the greater number. of bandages thus produced there are many of these thread lengths adhering to the edges of the bandages where they will be brought in contact with the wound when the bandage is wound and frequently left in the wound when the bandage is removed.

My present invention aims to produce a bandage having the desired velvety edge formed by projecting transverse thread ends and free from loose longitudinal threads or thread lengths which might irritate or retard the recovery of the wound.

Another object of my invention is to. produce a bandage of this character in which the side edges will have an increased tensile strength which will prevent tearing, stretching and distortion of the bandage when it is tightly wrapped about a wound.

. A further object is to make a completed bandage of the character above indicated before itris rolled up, thereby obviating the necessity of cross-cutting the ends of the bandage roll and the removal of the severed thread lengths by ravelling, brushing, combing, or other similar operation and also preserving in the structure of the bandage all of the threads both longitudinal and transverse, thus eliminating the waste which has heretofore been present in the removed longitudinal threads.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art as the invention becomes better-understood 'by reference to the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawingsillustrating my novel bandage and a preferred method ofmaking the same.

Referring to the drawings-Figure1is a plan view of a fragment of a machine by the transverse threads 7 which are ordinarily the weft or filling threads.v The fabric may be woven in any well known or preferred manner of any desired width and, in accordance with my improved method, is then divided longitudinally into a number of bandages of the required width.

Instead of simply cutting or splitting the woven fabric intoa number of strips of the required width and then ravelling or removing the longitudinal threads adjacent the edges of each strip to complete the bandage, as has been done heretofore, I propose to separate the longitudinal threads of the fabric along the line of the outer edge of the bandageto be formed, thus providing a Warpless space extending longitudinally of the fabric and bounded on each side by portions of the fabric in which the longitudinal threads are compacted or compressed more closely together than the threads intermediate these portions. This compacting is effected by pushing or displacing the threads in opposite directions from a median line and preferably without disturbing the weft threads. A warpless space is thereby provided on each side of the bandage strip across which the weft threads extend connecting the adjacent bandage strips. The weft threads are then severed along the median lines of the warpless spaces to provide the bandages of the required width, or, the weft threads are simply crushed and weakened so that when the fabric is rolled up it may be broken ofi along the weakened portions to form bandage rolls of the desired length.

One practical and preferred form of machine for producing the bandages in accordance with my improved method is disclosed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 722,796 filed September 28, 1912, and a portion of the machine shown in that application is disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2 of the present drawings. Referring to these figures, it will be observed that the fabric 5 is fed to the left viewing these figures between a pair of parallel shafts 9 and 11 and a second pair of parallel shaft '12 and 13. Upon the shaft 11 is rotatably mounted at predeter- -mined distances a number of wheels or rollers 14 provided with a series of radially disposed slots 15 in each of which is slidably mounted a tapered separator 16. A stationary cam provided with a cam groove 18 is fixed on the shaft 11 within the perimeter of the wheel 14, the cam slot being positioned to receive the lateral projections 19 formed on each of the separators. When the wheel 14 is revolved the separators will be projected successively beyond the perimeter of the wheel at its crown and through the fabric 5 to separate the warp threads and compact them upon each side of the separators. It will be observed from Fig. 4 that the extremities of the separators 16 are tapered to provide the inclined faces 21 whlch serve to displace the warp threads in opposite directions from the longitudinal axes of theseparators. For the purpose of holding the fabric in cooperative relation with the wheels 14 I have provided the companion wheels 22 rotatably mounted on the shaft 9 in alinement with the wheels 14, each of the wheels 22 being provided withradially disposed slots 23 adapted to receive the ends of, the separators as they are projected through the fabric. The wheels 22, therefore, hold the fabric in cooperative relation with the wheels 14 so that the separators ma be readily projected through the fabric and retracted therefrom as the fabric is fed along between the wheels.

The operation of the wheels 14 and 22, therefore, displaces the warp threads in each direction from the median lines of the wheels to produce the portions 24 in which the warp threads are compacted, these portions being separated by a warpless space 25 across which the weft threads 7 extend connecting the adjacent bandage strips. The fabric is then subjected to the action of the cutting or crushing disks 26 mounted on the shaft 12 in alinement with the wheels 14 and 22, the fabric being fed between these disks and a cylinder or platen 27 mounted on the shaft 13. As the fabric is fed beneath the disks 26 the weft threads extending across the warpless spaces 25 are either severed by the disks or crushed and weakened so that they may be subsequently divided along the line of action of the disks. The fabric is then rolled up, making one continuous roll, if the weft threads have been simply crushed by the disks 26, or, a'number of individual bandage rolls if the weft threads have been completely severed. In case the individual bandages are still connectedv in the roll by the weakened weft threads the long roll of fabric may be broken off along the weakened lines to produce the individual bandage rolls each complete and ready for market or use.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a completed bandage 27 partially rolled up. This bandage it will be observed has strengthened edges 24 formed by the compacted warp threads,

these strengthened portions being adapted to prevent the bandage from tearing or becoming stretched or distorted when tightly wrapped about a wound. The bandage has velvety edges 28 formed by the free ends of the projeoting weft threads and the warp threads are spaced inwardly from the ends of the weft threads a sufficient distance to prevent them from ravelling or withdrawing from the bandage when it is used.

It will be manifest from the foregoing that I have produced a novel and improved bandage having soft velvety edges which will not fray or ravel, which edges are strengthened and prevented from stretching and distortion by the compacted warp threads spaced inwardly from the free ends of the weft threads. By my improved method I am enabled to produce a bandage of the desired character without the loss or Waste of any of the threads and without the necessit or brus in of the bandage roll ends.

It. is believed that my invention will be understood from the foregoing without further description and it will be obvious that various minor modifications in the method and article produced thereby may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. The method of making surgical bandages which consists in positioning the lonof any scoring, cutting, ravelling gitudinal threads adjacent the edges of a strip of fabric closer together than the intermediate longitudinal threads and terminating the transverse threads beyond the longitudinal threads to provide free transverse thread ends projecting at the edges of the bandage.

2. The method of making surgical bandages which consists in manipulating the warp threads of a woven fabric to compact said threads adjacent the edges of a woven strip and terminating the weft threads at a distance from the warp threads to leave free ends projecting at the edges of the bandage.

3. The method of making surgical bandages which consists in displacing the warp threads at intervals across a woven fabric to compact said displaced threads at each side of warpless spaces and dividing the weft threads between the compacted warps to produce a plurality of bandages having free weft ends projecting from the edges thereof.

4. The method of making surgical bandages which consists in separating adjacent warp threads of a woven fabric to produce a longitudinally extending warpless portion bounded on each side by a portion in which the warp threads are compacted and severing the weft threads disposed across said warpless portion.

5. The method of making surgical bandages which' consists in displacing Warp threads of a woven fabricin opposite directions from a median line and severing the Weft threads between the displaced warp threads.

6. The method of making surgical bandages, which includes compacting warp threads of a woven fabric so as to leave the Weft threads protruding beyond the outermost warp threads.

OTTO O. SCHULZ.

Witnesses:

IRA J. WILSON, M. A. ,Kmpma 

